Laundry services in hospitals –linen handling
During any given hospital stay, patients spend most, if not all, of their time in bed.
•That means they are surrounded all day with hospital linens.
•From their gown to their sheets and blankets patients have more contact with these items than anything else in the hospital.
•Adequatesupplyofcleanlinensufficientforcomfortandsafteyofpatientandpersonalappereance&pleasant,neatlyattiredemployeesattendingpatientsinfreshcrispuniformdomuchsellthehospitaltothepublic
•Thereforeitmakessensetoensurethattheyareproperlycleaned,driedandtransportedtoavoidcrosscontamination
3. slide -1
WHAT IS LINEN?
including Mattress,
bed cover,
pillow cover,
bed sheets,
towel,
blanket,
screen,
curtain,
doctor’s coat ,
table cover etc
• Linen is a fabric made from fibers.
• In general term it is used to denote clothing
items.
• It includes all the textile used in hospitals
Cotton is most preferred and frequently used
material as it is cheaper and more
comfortable.
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IMPORTANCE OF LINEN IN HOSPITALS?
• During any given hospital stay, patients spend most, if not all, of their time in
bed.
• That means they are surrounded all day with hospital linens.
• From their gown to their sheets and blankets patients have more contact with
these items than anything else in the hospital.
• Adequate supply of clean linen
sufficient for comfort and saftey of
patient and personal appereance
& pleasant, neatly attired
employees attending patients in
fresh crisp uniform do much sell
the hospital to the public
• Therefore it makes sense to
ensure that they are properly
cleaned, dried and transported to
avoid cross contamination
5. slide - 3
TYPES OF LINEN
Linen for
Housekeeping-
This includes
curtains,
drapes, table
cloths , etc
Patient linen-
Bed Linen, Body
Linen, OT Linen
Staff linen-
Doctors and Medical
staffs Apron, Gown
etc
USE BY FIELD PERSONS:
DEGREE OF CONTAMINATION:
6. slide - 4
SOURCE OF LINEN
IN PATIENT
OPD &
OBSERVATION
ROOMS
OT,LR,ICU&
EMERGENCY
SOURCES
LINEN REQUIREMENT/ FREQUENCY OF CHANGE
7. slide - 5
HANDLING OF LINEN : HOSPITAL LAUNDRY
Hospital laundry is the space or area that receives all the linen material from
different areas like ward, OT, OPD, and office area where they undergo process of
sorting, washing , extracting, drying, ironing, folding, mending and delivery.
Objective of laundry services
• To provide comfortable and pleasant
environment to patient and visitors of
hospital by supplying clean linen.
• To control Hospital Infection (3-4% of HAI
is due to mishandling of the infected
linen)
• To supply uninterrupted supply of linen
to user department.
• To improve image of the hospital
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TYPES OF LAUNDRY SERVICES
Rental System
Contractual
System
IN PLANT /IN SITU
SYSTEM
Co-operative
System
LAUNDRY
SERVICES
OFF SITE SYSTEM
USE OF
BARRIER
SYSTEM
GENERAL
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ACTIVITIES IN LAUNDRY
• Collecting and receiving dirty
and soiled linen from wards
and other dept.
• Sorting of linen
• Removing of blood stains
• Disinfection
• Washing and Drying
• Repairing/ sewing
• Pressing/calendering and
folding
• Storage
• Issue of material
10. slide - 8
• Location : close proximity of CSSD and Dietary system
• Ground floor with least disturbance to patients.
• Space requirement : 10sq.feet/bed
• Floors: Rust proof , non-slippary, washable,suffient gradient to provide easy flow of
water.
• Ceiling: smooth ,washable, moisture proof , sound proof, with minimum height of
3.5 meter.
• Wall: should be washable and free from crevices, corners,edge or projection.
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
• Doors and windows : Doors should be wide enough to admit heavy machinery and
trolleys. Maximum light and natural ventilation should be provided from window.
• For ventilation,10 air change per hour is recommended.
• Power supply: 3 KW hour per 45 KG of laundry,
• Water: Aprrox 15 liter of hot water and 10 liter of cold water required per 0.5 kg of
linen processed.
• Steam Supply: A temperature of 170 degree Celsius is obtained from steam at 45 kg
per 6 sq. cm pressure.
12. slide - 10
BARRIER SYSTEM
It’s a system designed for the sole purpose of
keeping soiled and clean goods physically
separated during the wash phase.
SORTING AREA
IORNING & FOLDING
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BARRIER SYSTEM
For very large hospital laundries the best
type of barrier system is a tunnel washer
or continuous batch washer.
These large washers have soiled linens
placed in one end of a long tunnel and
they are moved through the washer by an
Archimedes screw.
This screw separates the load into
batches.
Water and chemicals come from the other
end, in the opposite direction of the goods
so every time the laundry goes into the
next pocket cleaner and cleaner water is
used.
These machines are so large that the
soiled goods are in one end of the room
while the cleaned goods are at the
opposite end.
14. slide - 12
BARRIER SYSTEM
The tunnel washer consists of tandem drum-type washing compartments
(usually from 6 up to 20) designed for 25, 35, 50, 60, 70, 90 or 100 kg of
dry linen.
Each compartment is programmed for its proper operation mode; its proper
temperature is maintained in it, and its proper detergents are fed into it
(with possible processes while several compartments are operating in similar
modes).
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BARRIER SYSTEM
PRINCIPLE:
To save water and energy consumption the washers use the principle of
water counterflow providing that clean water is fed into the last
compartment and moves toward the movement of laundry. Thus, with
each transition the laundry moves into the compartment with cleaner
water.
WORKING
During the washing process the laundry moves sequentially through all
the compartments. The laundry is loaded through a batch hopper by
means of either an overhead conveyor or conveyor belt. Before loading
the laundry is automatically weighed, and the program adjusts the
amount of detergents to be fed upon the actual loaded weight. Upon
moving through all the tunnel washer compartments the washed and
rinsed linen are delivered in the press section (in some cases in the
centrifuge section) to pass through a spin cycle.
The tunnel washer standard equipment also includes an electronic
weighting unit, a conveyor and a computer control rack.
16. slide - 14
BARRIER SYSTEM
3. The distribution
cabinet
4.Loading
compartment..
5. The control
panel
6. Water tank